Gear Review

Yakima Boa Bike Mount

Tech Specs

Good for long trips

I used these on trips from Jersey to Maine and also from San Diego to Yosemite with nary a mishap except outside of Bishop when I forgot the bikes were on top and drove under a low thing in a parking lot and whoosh the whole rack came off the roof... but the BOA still held the bikes.

Notice the difference between the Boa in Nestor Ruiz's photo and the Backcountry item. One has little grippy teeth, as on the inside surfaces of your wheel skewers, and the other (newer?) is smooth and shiny. The smooth ends on the new locking skewer will hold tight on new bike forks with either a dished-out shape like on a front suspension fork, or the little safety bumps on road bikes some folks call "lawyer's knobs". But if your bike fork is older and smooth, be sure to shut the clamp really tight. I found my fork ends moved up a little bit after some miles in cross winds and bumping over some railroad tracks. That never happened with our old, old predecessor to the Boa, which had regular wheel skewers.